Pages

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Everyone has “a thing”, something in their interest,
work, hobby, physical characteristic that identifies them to everyone?

We often pigeon-hole people in our life based on their
interests and hobbies, appearances and past experiences, and everything in-between.

My boss, Joseph A. Carter, I compartmentalize as a rabid politicophile
as his interest in politics and activism is something I have not witnessed
since the 1970’s (and I work for a newspaper). He also has a love for baseball,
music, designer beer and grilling (although his fascination with beer can
chicken seems to have wavered).

We can
discuss a movie, television program or a particular singer and I await the
inevitable “do you know he/she is a liberal (or conservative) etc. He too compartmentalizes
in an abbreviated way, right and left, conservative or liberal.It does seem to streamline and simplify
things a bit.

Back in 1986 there were a series of commercials promoting
California Raisins. Hip, anthropomorphized (wonder
how long I waited to use that big word) musical raisins sang “I Heard It
Through The Grapevine” all to promote the benefits of dried up grape eating for
the California Raisin Advisory Board.

My mother made the fatal error of announcing to the family
that she thought the raisins were cute. The next few birthdays, Mother’s day, Christmas
and assorted holidays found her overwhelmed with all the advertising nick-knacks
one could find at Spencer’s gifts in the mall.

Given the choices available at that store, Dancing Raisin
clocks and figurines were the only PG rated item available.

My mother would never throw any gift away, no matter how
hideous, and she could never understand how my brothers and I would swap Christmas
presents if what the other had suited our needs. She kept every gift, not as a
hoarder, but out of cherishing the thoughtfulness and love behind the
present.

She passed a few years ago and my brother, Johhny Fangs,
lives in the family homestead.Just
today he tweeted me a pix of some figurines he found at the house.

Mrs. Jaygerardtoday for years had been identified by her
interest in cats. This was a love for the creatures, not a strange addiction found
in inter-city row homes where neighbors report unusual smells only to discover a
few hundred felines running rampant with a decomposing octogenarian on the
kitchen floor. She too was a recipient
of numerous figurines, coffee mugs, salt and pepper shaker sets until one day
she calmly announced “enough is enough, there is no more room in this house and
it’s just too weird”. The collection slowly disappeared onto the basement IKEA
shelves, collecting dust and awaiting an eventual yard sale.

I have decided to formally announce my decision to make
something “my thing”.

My family never knows what to give me as a gift, not that
I have a Warren Buffett bank account and can purchase anything I so desire, I
just never express an interest that can tie in to gift giving.

I will now make Christmas,
Birthdays and Father’s Day easy on family and friends with my new interest:
collecting gold and silver.

Feel free to gift wrap as much as you wish.I promise that like my mother I too will
never throw it away and unlike my spouse I will never grow weary and retire it
to the basement IKEA shelves.